


Amarillo By Morning

by NovaStars42



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - Farm/Ranch, Cowboys, Cows, M/M, Mildly correct veterinary procedures I didnt want to get too graphic but theyre correct, Ranching, Veterinary Medicine
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-16 00:28:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,652
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29444844
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NovaStars42/pseuds/NovaStars42
Summary: John graduated from vet school and his first solo assignment is pulling a breach birthed calf from Dave Strider's cow. Pining ensues.
Relationships: John Egbert/Dave Strider
Comments: 2
Kudos: 11





	Amarillo By Morning

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Valentine's day!

The first time John drove out to the Strider Ranch, he was a recent graduate from veterinary school. He’d graduated from Texas A&M, one of the top vet schools in the country and he had the skills and the loans to prove it. He’d had his diploma in hand for less than a week when he received an offer for a job, a country vet clinic out in west Texas that needed an extra hand. John had wanted to be a small animal vet, he’d been inspired to go to veterinary school because he grew up owning rabbits, but it was a good offer and he was promised a company vehicle to use on farm calls.

It was that company vehicle he was currently driving, up a longer than five-mile driveway with cow pastures on both sides. He was going a bit fast, but he also wasn’t used to driving pickup trucks. The first thing that came to view was a barn, build up like a pole barn but without sides, which was no wonder with the Texas heat. Around it, we’re various pens, also filled with cattle and arranged in a circular pattern. Circles kept cows calm, John remembered from his large animal handling class. There were two men in one of the pens, one on a horse with a rope and another on foot with an ear tagger.

Right. Spring. Calving season, John reminded himself. Calves needed identity tags.

He wasn’t sure where to park the truck, but a third man came out of the barn and waved him down, directing John to park next to the building. That was good, he thought, wouldn't have to walk far to get supplies.

“Hello!” John greatest as he climbed out of the truck. “I’m Jo-Er, Dr. Egbert. They told me you had a cow tryin’ to have a calf that cant?”

“Yeah sure thing,” the ranchman replied. John happened to get a good look at him as he moved to the back of the truck to start prepping. He was blonde, his hair smushed down with a bright red Tractor Supply ball cap. He was wearing matching red a T-shirt, pitted out with sweat from the hot sun with a pair of aviators clipped to the neckline, and just as dirty as his jeans. He had on a pair of nice boots though, brown ropers that went almost up to his knees.

“How long has she been pushing?” John followed up.

“Not long but it’s breach,” the ranchman said, short and sweet. John had to stop and then for a second. In addition to a pair of shoulder-length gloves, he grabbed a pair of calf pulling chains and the stick.

“Do you have a bucket of water?” John asked.

“Way ahead of you.”

The cow in question was tied up to a wall in the barn, already laying down and she looked angry. John had been warned by many of his professors never to trust a beef cow, and between that and the way she was looking at him, and this being his first solo job in the field, he was feeling more than intimidated. There wasn’t like, a hoof sticking out of a bloody mess on the ground, so that was good at least, and the requested bucket of water was nearby but out of kicking range.

John swallowed hard as he pulled on his gloves, kneeled, and went looking for the calf up the business end of the cow. He felt around, closing his eyes to picture it mentally. Hoof, hoof, ah, there was the hock, the tail. Sure enough, it was breach. It was also all tangled up, and he did some rearranging as fast as he could to get the calf on position to come out.

The ranchman was standing nearby, waiting to help if he needed to, watching John with the most beautiful hazel eyes and- oh, fuck. Okay. The calf was where it needed to be and John didn’t have time for eyes. He pulled his arm out for a moment, only to get the chains, and went back in to wrap them around the calf’s legs.

Once upon a time, he’d been afraid it’d hurt the baby or the mom to use chains, but he’d quickly learned that was the furthest from the truth. Next came the poll, with sort of a U shape to hold the cow’s behind and a come along for the chain.

“You want me on one side?” The ranchman asked, and John almost jumped.

“I think I’ve got it,” John replied, wanting to feel as confident as he was trying to sound.

With the chains hooked to the come-along, all John had to do was pull and push the level to ratchet the calf out, and he moved fast, spilling fluid and blood and membrane on to the dirt along with the wet calf.

It just sort of laid there for a moment, not moving, and then John realized he was supposed to be doing something. He moved in and stuck his fingers in the nose, trying to clear anything out of them and its little head jerked, and seconds later its body jarred, taking its first breath of air. They weren’t going to need the water then.

John felt as stunned as the baby right then, having just pulled his first live calf unassisted. He watched the baby live the first moments of its little life, but then its mother started moving behind him and he backed away.

The ranchman leaned down to scoop the baby up, taking it to the mother to lick clean and establish a bond.

“Ah, Christ. It’s a bull,” he said, lifting its tail to check. “It’s alive though. Thanks.”

“You’re welcome,” John returned, and he peeled off his glove to extend his hand to shake.

“We run three hundred head here, so I’m sure I’ll be seeing you again. Name’s Dave. Dave Strider,” the ranchman introduced. “My dad and my brother and I run this place and somethings always going to shit here.”

“Ha, yeah. That’s why they invented vet med,” John joked dryly.

“Hey, uh. I’m sure you’re busy as shit right now and also on the clock, but if you ever wanted some genuine pasture-raised beef hit me up, huh?” Dave grinned.

John could feel himself blush. Was... was that some kind of innuendo? Or was he actually offering him meat?

“Sure,” John laughed nervously. He took the check written to the vet practice as soon as it was written and drove out of there as fast as he could.

* * *

The second time John was called to the Strider Ranch, it was for pregnancy checks. To calf every year, a cow had to breed again less than 80 days after she calved last. John had that memorized from the textbooks, so about three months after his first visit he was back with a glove on his arm.

This time he got to meet the rest of the family. Dave’s brother Dirk was running a gate letting cows into the chute where John was pregnancy checking them. He wore a white wife beater that was nearly brown with dust, and he had a deep voice that John could hear over the cows mooing as he shouted to move them on through the line, though he didn’t see much of him besides that.

Dave’s father was a gruff man and the apparent source of the blonde hair genes. He stood on the other side of the fence with a clipboard, taking the number off the cow’s ear tag and the results of the pregnancy test as John reached his hand up her to check.

Dave was the one running the chute, as the cow ran though he closed the contraption on her, closing her neck in so she’d have to stand in the narrow space for John to check, reading her ear tag to his dad and directing the cow to one pen or another with a gate depending on results.

John figured they’d checked about a hundred cows when they finished.

“Pregnant!” He called, and the headlock on the chute released, the cow bolting out of the thing. She must have been nervous or something, or just really had to pee maybe, but as she dashed out she just so happened to soak Dave who was still standing near the front, and took off bucking to join the rest of her herd.

John watched it happen and didn’t think much of it. Animals had bodily functions, that was a fact. It was unfortunate Dave was in the way though, and he came walking up dripping and stinking like ammonia.

Dave’s father curled his lip and straight-up walked away, muttering something about a check, and disappeared into the maze of stock panels.

“Can’t say this has ever happened before, I fuckin’ hate cows,” Dave moaned. “Guess I’d have to change for you let me take you out?”

There he went flirting again. John tried to laugh it off.

“I mean it Doc, I clean up decent,” Dave flashed him a grin. He had nice teeth. “Or maybe you’re more of a stay in guy? I make a mean nacho plate. I slice the shit out of the ground beef. Not from our cows though, at least I don’t think it is.”

“I think I’m good,” John tried again to pass him off.

“I ain’t gonna take no for an answer,” Dave was firm. “Come on, listen, you free Friday night? Drive over after you finish up work. I’ll take you on a trail ride and I swear to god, I mean it, I’ll make nachos.”

John really, really didn’t want to. But he was free, and maybe if he gave in Dave would leave him alone. “Yeah sure, I guess so if you’re gonna twist my arm. I get off at six.”


End file.
